Page 24 of Accidental Blood Lust
“You know we have a library down the hall with big, comfy couches to read on, right?” I tease.
He looks up from his book and sighs dramatically.
“I spilled atinydrop of blood on a book last week and now Rune has banned me from the library.” He rolls his eyes.
I grunt in understanding, then blurt out the only question I actually care about right now. “How’d the hunt go?”
Cas laughs, shakes his head, then takes another sip of his drink.
“If I didn’t know you weren’t the type, Wolfie, I’d think you’d pawned Loch off on me as a practical joke. He found a willing snack, but as soon as he sank his teeth in, he got skittish and wouldn’t feed. Then I brought him back here and warmed up some of my reserves for him. He took one sip and spat it out on the floor.” Cas shakes his head again. “I’m not sure what I can do for him if he refuses to feed.”
“I knew he was refusing to eat, but I figured he was either struggling to adjust or being dramatic about the breakup. Jare didn’t mention him having an actual aversion to it when he fed him.”
“Well then Jare might need to sign up to be his full-time donor, because the kid is refusing blood from any other source.”
“Fuck,” I mutter under my breath and turn on my heel to walk right back out of the dining room. If thisisa ploy to get Jareth’s sympathy or attention, I’m not about to let that fly. If Loch thinks he can pout his way into getting Jare to bleed for him on a regular basis, I’m going to set him straight.
I march down the hallway, straight to his room. His scent gets stronger as I approach, and by the time I reach his door, I’m breathing deeply so I can fill my lungs and coat my tongue with his sweet, drugging scent. My cock stirs and heat blooms in my gut, and for a few seconds after I knock, I forget that I’m here to get to the bottom of his feeding issue, not for a middle-of-the-night roll in the sack. A needy, wolfish whine builds in my throat, but I swallow it down right as the door swings open.
Lochlan looks like he was sleeping, or at least trying to, dressed in a pair of silky looking black pants and a tank top that shows off his ivory skin and the toned muscles of his arms. His eyes widen, then he rakes his gaze over my body, reminding me that the way I’m dressed, he probably thinks Iamhere to proposition him. His attention lingers for several long seconds on my bare chest, and even though I don’t have the telepathic ability that vampires do, I swear I can hear every thought in his head, hear him craving to run his tongue and maybe his teeth against the swell of my pecs and my stiff nipples, and scolding himself for thinking it.
“We need to talk,” I say firmly, taking a step forward.
He hesitates before he finally steps aside and lets me in. I have to bite back another groan as soon as I walk in. He’s onlybeen here a few hours, but his scent is permeating every inch of the enclosed space already, making it feel like I’m bathing in it when he closes the door behind us.
“I’d tell you to take a seat, but all I have is a bed.” He chuckles.
“We can get you a couch,” I offer reflexively, my wolf immediately perking up at the thought of there being something simple we can do for our mate to make him happy.
“I don’t know how long I’m staying.” He said something similar earlier, and honestly, the best thing for all of us would probably be for him to get the hell out of here as soon as possible, but I growl under my breath.
“You can’t feed yourself,” I point out. “Where exactly do you plan to go? Back to Jareth’s? Is that what this is all about? You think if you refuse any blood but his that he’ll be forced to feed you? To take care of you? That maybe pity will soften him, and he’ll realize he’s still in love with you?”
Loch flinches, then scowls at me. “That’s not?—”
“Do you know what it costs him to feed you?” I know it’s not my place, but Jareth is too giving sometimes. If Lochlan loves him like he says he does, he wouldn’t want to hurt him like this.
“I didn’t take that much last time. I would never hurt him.”
“That’s not what I meant.” I rake my fingers through my hair and take a step back, pulling myself together. I can’t tell him. It’s not my place. “If you go to him to feed again, ask him about the night we met. If you still want to sink your fangs into him after he tells you, then you don’t love him.”
Lochlan looks stunned, like I just slapped him across the face. I’m half expecting him to try to pry more information out of me, but he just nods. Maybe my judgment is clouded from his pheromones in my nose or the lack of sleep, but I don’t think he’s refusing to feed just to manipulate Jare.
I sigh and go over to sit on the end of his bed.
LOCHLAN
I can seethe throb of Roman’s pulse in his throat from halfway across the room. He smells spicy and wild in that way that keeps making my dick hard, but he also smells warm, and I can’t seem to keep my fangs from lengthening.
He holds my gaze for a few seconds, then tilts his head to one side in a silent offer. I groan under my breath and take a small step forward.
“I don’t know what the fuck is wrong with me,” I confess. “I’m guessing you already talked to Cas since you know I didn’t feed tonight.” I can’t tear my eyes off of the steady throb of his pulse. “I tried. I swear I did. The guy smelled okay, but as soon as his blood touched my tongue, it made me sick to my stomach. Same with the stuff Cas tried to feed me when we got back.”
“It wasn’t like that when you fed from Jareth?” he asks gruffly.
I shake my head, taking another step closer without meaning to. “No, he tasted like honey and lavender.” My mouth waters at the memory of how his blood tasted pooling on my tongue and how warm it felt filling my belly.
My cock throbs and I run my tongue absently over the sharp point of one of my fangs. I look down and realize I’m already standing between Roman’s spread thighs as he sits with his hands braced behind him on the bed, making no effort to protect himself from me. I can hear the thunder of his blood and feel the heat radiating off his skin in the small amount of space between us.
